Dec 2 Give More Meaningful Christmas Gifts This Year With These 5 DIY Ideas

It's never too early to start planning for Christmas. Some people buy gifts all year, some wait until the last minute to go shopping, and others enjoy making their own gifts. If you're like me, you often like the idea of making gifts, but you never get around to doing it because- let's get real- once Thanksgiving hits, Christmas arrives in the blink of an eye. Whenever I think about the best or most memorable gifts I've received and actually used, they often tend to be homemade gifts. I have one friend who is especially crafty, and I still fondly dream of the sugar scrub or the room freshening spray she made me once. Homemade gifts leave a lasting impression. So why not try making one of these fun ideas!?

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Bath Salts

The holiday season can often be busy and stressful. So what could be more considerate than giving the gift of relaxation and serenity? Try this combination of lavender and mint. When wrapping the gift you can write a card that includes the healing properties of lavender and mint: "relieves stress and anxiety and improves sleep." Below I've included one idea for scents/herb combos, but feel free to experiment. For example, why not add rose petals? Or, if you want an earthier scent, why not make a palo santo scented bath salt combo?

What you'll need:

2 cups epsom salts.

1/2 cup baking soda.

1/4 cup sea salt (optional)

30 drops of lavender essential oils.

10 drops of peppermint essential oil.

Dried Lavender

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Store in an airtight jar.

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Lip Balm

As the season of dry skin and chapped lips begins, I keep lip balm close at hand. The older I get, the more I pay attention to what is in my lip balm, and I try and keep away from balms filled with chemicals and unnatural additives. Treat your friends this winter with your own batch of natural lip balm. They will certainly appreciate it!

What you'll need:

1 tbsp Beeswax Pastilles

1 tbsp Virgin Coconut Oil

"A dash" of Organic Raw Honey

2 Vitamine E Capsules

Essential Oil of Your Choosing

Directions:

Begin by melting down the beeswax in a double boiler.

Once about half of the beeswax is no longer solid, add the coconut oil and honey

After all the ingredients are melted and blended together, stir in the contents of 2 vitamin E capsules.

Pour the melted ingredients into a container of your choice and let it cool

Tea Cup Candles

Looking for a gift idea that is beautiful and keeps on giving? Why not make some teacup candles for your friends? This gift is a fun one because it's two gifts in one! They get a beautiful candle to enjoy, and then once it's done, they have a teacup that they can use for all their tea and coffee drinking. This is also a fun project because it's a good excuse to poke around antique shops.

Note: the directions for this one are a bit more involved, but it's more straightforward than it may appear.

Start by making wooden wick supports to lay over top of the teacups using the kabob sticks and tape. First, tape together two wooden sticks at one end then slide in a wax wick so it sits in between the two wooden sticks. Finish it off by taping the opposite ends of the sticks together. You should have two sticks taped together at both ends with a wax wick clamped into the middle.

Position the wick into the center of the cup so the metal base around the wick is flush on the bottom of the cup.

Repeat until all of your cups have a wooden wick support

Fill a shallow pan or double boiler with water and put over medium to high stove heat.

Place your bowl into the water and add the wax flakes or old candles to the bowl

As the water and bowl begins to heat up, the wax will start to melt and become opaque/clear.

Use two wooden skewers to stir the flakes, and as the wax starts melting you can add a scent if you like. I recommend using essential oil. Although it takes more essential oil to create a strongly scented candle, it's ultimately better for the environment and it's 100% made of out of organic materials, unlike other "candle fragrance oils"

Using oven mitts, use one hand to lift up the bowl out of the water (once the wax has completely melted) and the other hand to wipe off water on the outside of the bowl being careful not to burn yourself

Have a trivet ready beside your teacups and carefully pour the wax into your teacups, making sure to avoid the wooden skewers laying across the tops.

You can always use one hand to hold the wood skewers in place.

Fill the teacups up until about a quarter of an inch of cup is still showing.

Immediately wash your bowl to avoid the wax drying or put back in your hot water bath if you will be melting more flakes

Wait for the wax to cool. Once they are opaque and fully cooled off, use your scissors to trim the excess length of the wick and you're done!